The Ergs are a very special band to me. The band that I listen to and feel like I have the most in common with the members, if that makes sense. Where the songs feel like they are proxies for shit I have already thought about. And I think maybe that describes the goals of pop music in general, but The Ergs nailed that for me, and I'm sure a lot of people here feel that way.
That being said, I will never underestimate Mikey. I have no doubt that his solo stuff will match and exceed what he's done before. He's just too fucking good. And I don't discount what Joe and Jeff brought to the table at all - the musicianship of The Ergs is ridiculous, and on top of that you can feel their childhood friendships bleeding through everything they put out. That is special.
But Mikey had those lyrics, man! And still has em! It just seems crazy to me that people would ever even debate Mikey as a solo artist. Seeing the guy play Ergs songs solo strips em down and makes the lyrics break your heart that much more. Every solo song I've heard so far crushes it, and the dude is just getting started.
It's like when The Smiths broke up - and from me, that's not a comparison I'd ever make lightly. Everyone was like "Morrissey's solo stuff is about to suck without Johnny Marr." And then the motherfucker put out a bajillion singles that became classics, and were just as good as anything The Smiths did. Granted, it was never the same, maybe not quite as magical as in that initial push of The Smiths coming out of nowhere, but as time has gone by, fans of the band and of him have come to recognize more and more that the best of Moz's solo stuff is as untouchable as the best Smiths songs. In other words, let's not make the mistake of thinking that the mystique and joy that came with seeing the Ergs come out of nowhere and evolve into something very special for us means that the members can't write songs that stand up to what they've done. And as stated before, Mikey's that guy with the pop sensibilities and the genius lyrics, so it feels like the poppy gems we all hope for coming from the world of the Ergs will come from his end of things - the ball's in his court and in my humble opinion, anyone who thinks he's gonna drop that ball is kind of a dummy.
Just because the cat's out of the bag and The Ergs showed us who those guys are and what they can do doesn't mean they can't throw down as hard as they did collectively. I will never doubt Mikey - nicest guy ever man, but he's a stone cold killer.
